On Monday, a rally in Miami organized by former Florida congressional candidate Laura Loomer seemed to attract more reporters than participants.
Jared Holt, senior research manager at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, said a handful of other groups appeared to be organizing rallies for Tuesday at the courthouse. But he noted they were attracting skepticism from doubters who accuse the organizers of setting up a “false flag” or federal honeypot trap intended to arrest Trump supporters.
In addition to the paranoia, researchers said that in the years since January 6, Trump has also lost his shine to many in his former base. “I think there’s this general sense of Trump fatigue that’s happening right now,” said Alex Friedfeld, of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism. “We are not seeing them get as animated as they have in the recent past around issues surrounding Trump.”
Instead, Friedfeld said Trump’s base is now largely focused on the next thing — namely anti-LGTBQ+ efforts. That campaign has reflected a broader tactical shift on the far right during the last two years, to move away from organizing at a national level and refocus on local government. Now, moms groups, religious organizations and extremist groups like the Proud Boys are in common pursuit of an anti-inclusion agenda in schools, libraries and statehouses.
While there may be “less” Trump supporters, the fact that there are still any at all is what’s baffling.
I highly doubt that Trump has lost many supporters between Jan 6 and today. They have this “brand loyalty” for him and choice other republicans that is nigh impossible to falter. They quite literally take pride in being stubborn and unwilling to listen to dissenting opinion or facts.
Some of these supporters have had plenty of practice way ahead of time, like my mother. She voted for Nixon and will defend him till her last breath - “He was doing what everyone else does… He just got caught!” That’s her rationale for Watergate.
With Trump - “January 6 was ANTIFA and BLM posing as Trump supporters… He’s innocent!”
It goes on and on. We can’t expect a day of reckoning or reasoning with these folks. They take pride in being ignorant.
Still got more votes than any candidate ever besides Biden in 2020. There are still plenty of Trump supporters, they’re just less vocal now. There finally seems to be a sense of shame in showing it, at least for some.
This just means they’ll latch onto the next bigot demagogue, just not sure who that will be yet since DeSantis is royally screwing up his opportunity.
Getting as many people as possible to vote is still the best way to ensure Trump and his ilk go away. People really need to not be apathetic next November.
True, lots of supporters are no longer speaking out in public, but when they’re in a voting booth with a curtain around them? Their true colors can show on the ballot without fear of reprisal. We should never assume that his supporters have gone away, they’ve just gone into hiding.
Jared Holt, senior research manager at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, said a handful of other groups appeared to be organizing rallies for Tuesday at the courthouse. But he noted they were attracting skepticism from doubters who accuse the organizers of setting up a “false flag” or federal honeypot trap intended to arrest Trump supporters.
LOL. When they all follow a party of liars, precisely because they are liars, is it any surprise they’re all suspicious AF and can’t trust each other?
I’m concerned about these extremist groups, but I find some comfort in knowing that their own ineptitude limits their effectiveness. A downward spiral of wild conspiracy theories brought them to this state of paranoia, and their conspiratorial mindset is self-consuming. With all other targets exhausted, they start to look for hidden dangers in their own numbers, and turn on each other. They can never be a truly organized threat as a result.
I believe Stephen Colbert called it “a black hole of whiteness”.
Hopefully it will be poorly attended and peaceful. The paranoia about feds is so strong and justified.
